Christianity need not retreat from investigation. Its central claim is that the Word became flesh, entered history, was crucified, and on the third day rose from the dead. That is not an embarrassment to be overcome. It is the claim we have been given to declare and defend.
In the end, your story isn’t an epic of personal glory. You aren’t the hero. Your Savior Jesus is.
Whether a Christian enjoys high church, low church, or something in between, aesthetics in the Church are not about any one individual person and their particular tastes. Aesthetics are, fundamentally, not a matter of legalism, but of edification—that the Gospel of Christ might be preached and taught to all peoples, unhindered by its medium.

All Articles

This is an excerpt from Ditching the Checklist: Assurance of Salvation for Evangelicals (and Other Sinners) by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2025), pgs. 5-7.
In the liturgy, Christ is present, self-giving, and ever-addressing his people.
There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.
There is a “re” involved with baptism, but unlike the Anabaptists, it’s not a “re-do,” but a “re-turn" or a “re-member.”
As you step into the days ahead, remember this: no matter how lost you may feel, you have a God who seeks you out, celebrates your return, and rejoices over you.
The name of Jesus holds us fast.
This is the third article in a special three-part Advent series on how Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king.
Thanksgiving is never out of place for the Christian.
Show me a sinner, and I’ll write you a story of a God who saves them.
One Christ rules over all of it. He is the constant, the root that nourishes every estate and every vocation.
More certain than death or taxes and more certain than “anything else in all creation” is the fact that God loves you.
Mary looms large in our theology, our liturgy, our confessions and creeds.